Let's Go Lions
by runnergirl419
Summary: Santana is set to take her team to the top this year, bring home the gold and will stop at nothing. But when a new, hot, blonde coach comes in, will Santana be able to resist her charm long enough to get through the season? AU/Glee. Other characters will make appearances. Maybe even a little Faberry, who knows!
1. Chapter 1

**Hello all! This is my first Brittana fic, so please feel free to critique and review along the way! I had feels this week from reading crammit, frayedattheends and jenja, so thank you ladies for your Brittana inspiration! They say you write what you know and this idea came to me because I ran cross country in college and it's preseason / move in week at my alma mater. Also, my gf (cactusgirl329) is coaching volleyball and that started up this week as well and since I don't hear enough about it from her, I wanted to write about it! It's not going to be an overly athletic fic, just mostly a happy Brittana fic. Hope you enjoy!**

* * *

It was that time of year again.

Santana parked her car in her usual spot in the lot, grabbed her gym bag from the seat and shut the door. She took a deep breath and thought to herself.

_It's good to be back on campus. _

She smiled, looking around at the familiar buildings, making her way to the gym locker room. It was quiet on campus and she maneuvered her way through the buildings with ease. Move in day for the athletes was this past weekend, but most of campus wasn't back yet for the start of the semester.

Practice started earlier this week for her. It was her fifth year coaching at her alma mater; her first year as head coach of the volleyball team. She got the call in June that Coach Beiste would be retiring and wanted Santana to take over. Santana had played under Beiste for her 4 years in college, starting as a freshman. After graduation, Santana was Beiste's assistant coach and she was honored to have the position now the Beiste was stepping down.

She found her way to the locker room, stopping in the hallway outside to look at the trophy case from last season. Her team was seated first in the regular season and moved onto playoffs, where they ended up in the conference final. There they fell short and came in 2nd place; the silver trophy brought her back to that match. She was proud of her team for making it that far, but she was disappointed they didn't take the gold. This was going to be her year to take them all the way. She smiled and continued down the hallway. It was weird how often she came through this locker room; first as a player, then as assistant coach. Now she bypassed all her lockers and went to the back office. The key jingled on her key ring as she opened the door. Beiste had been in a few weeks ago to clean out her stuff from the office. While it looked the same as Santana had remembered, it weighed heavily on her to think this was now her office, her desk. She threw her bag on the floor and sat in the big desk chair. On the desk was a note.

_To Santana_

Intrigued, she opened the letter.

_Go get em, girl. –Coach B_

Santana smiled and felt her heart flutter. She wanted to make Beiste proud for choosing her as her replacement, just as she wanted to make her proud for the 4 years she played for her and for the time she spent coaching with her.

Santana folded the note and tucked it neatly in the upper right desk drawer.

"This is my year."

* * *

Santana spent the past few days working her girls pretty hard. They knew better than to slack on the summer workouts she assigned them and she was pleased to see that except for a few of the freshmen, most of her team was in good shape.

Today was the annual coaches meeting for all the fall sports teams, so Santana knew she was going to miss practice tonight. She was on campus early to give her captains the workout for tonight and figured she'd hit the gym.

She ran 3 miles on the treadmill and then lifted. The gym was mostly empty, except for the few local students or patrons that cared to be there in the summer; she paid them no attention. On her way out, the football team was coming in. She was so thankful that she had finished her workout and was leaving as she met Puck and Finn in the doorway.

She crossed her arms over her chest and waited until the football team ushered in, most of the boys giving her over the shoulder stares and smiles, along with the hushed whispers about how hot she is, before addressing the coaches. "Well if it isn't dumb and dumber. Please tell me, how's the team looking this year?"

The boys looked at each other. She could almost see the wheels turning, as they were trying to figure out which was which and who she was insulting more. Puck answered first. "Well hi there, Miss Santana". Puck pretended to tip his hat at her and she had to smile at his weirdness. "I think this is our year." Puck folded his arms over his chest and went to lean against the doorway, but missed and almost fell over. He recovered as Finn outwardly laughed and Santana smiled to herself behind her hand. She went to college with both of the guys and while she couldn't stand Finn, she enjoyed Puck every now and then.

"Well, I don't think it can get worse than last season; you guys only won one game! I wish you better luck this year." She walked away and called out over her shoulder, "See you around."

She headed back to the empty locker room to shower after her workout and was in her office when her phone buzzed.

_Where you at? Let's eat before this meeting._

She texted Quinn back, "Meet you in the caf in 5."

* * *

Santana met Quinn years ago at freshman orientation and they instantly hit it off. They sometimes had clashing personalities, but were also similar, so they became close friends within the first few weeks. Luckily, they didn't play the same sport, because they were both extremely competitive, but they supported each other. While Santana rocked it on the volleyball court, Quinn was a beast in the field hockey goal. Like Santana, they asked her to coach the year after she graduated, so they've been inseparable for the past few years.

"You ready to go all the way this season?" Quinn asked Santana as she ate her salad.

Everyone knew Santana was crushed when the team lost the final match of playoffs last year and was coming back for gold this year.

She looked at Quinn, "Of course. Everybody knows it and that trouty-mouth asshole coach better know it too!"

Quinn laughed as Santana took the last bite of her chicken and rice.

"Alright, let's get this boring meeting over with. We can't be late for the fifth year in a row, especially now that you're head coach."

* * *

They arrived in the auditorium with time to spare, making the athletic director, Sue Sylvester, very happy. She pointed at them with two fingers when they walked in and then to her eyes and back at them again, suggesting she was keeping an eye on them. They've all known each other for years and while Sue's bark was worse than her bite, they didn't want to be in trouble with her already.

They said their hellos to the other coaches in the room. They'd known most of them well enough over the past few years to at least make small talk; most of them even went to college together. Sugar was already waiting for Santana and Quinn and motioned for them to come sit with her.

Santana played volleyball with Sugar in college and when she was offered the head coach's position, she was pleased to suggest Sugar take her old place as assistant coach. Beiste put in a good word with Sue and it was settled. Things were really going Santana's way this season.

Sugar turned to them both as they sat down. "Ok, so there's already drama and it's only preseason!" She giddily clapped her hands and looked around to make sure no one was in ear shot before continuing. "This year, we can't do the annual athletes vs. alum games to raise money like we used to because the lacrosse teams slaughtered each other last year and there were a million injuries and their best player got injured mid-season." Quinn looked over her shoulder at Kitty, the lacrosse coach, who fake smiled and waved at her. Kitty also went to school with the girls, but they never got along with her.

"Also, the tennis coach, Mike, knocked up his girlfriend, and there's going to be a celebratory party later in the season for them." Mike just walked in and was awkwardly standing in the back, looking around. Before he could escape, Puck and Finn ran over to him and slapped Mike on the back and started shoving him around. Santana rolled her eyes and figured it was their caveman way of congratulating him.

Sue went to the center of the stage and called everyone to order.

"Excuse me, people in the back, sit down!" She looked out at everyone. "Hello to all you great people. Thank you once again for coaching our athletes, some of you doing a better job than others." Sue gave an approving head nod in the direction of Santana and Quinn and scowled at Puck and Finn as they rushed to take their seats as far away from the stage as possible. Mike ran in the opposite direction so as to not incur the wrath of Sue this early in the season.

Sue continued to go on and on about the rules and responsibilities as a college coach. Santana zoned out; she's heard this speech for the past four years. She looked around and noticed a few new faces. One short brunette with a huge nose was sitting in the front row.

San nudged Sugar. "Who's the new girl?" Sugar somehow always had the latest news.

Sugar shook her head. "I think she's the new swimming coach. Raquel or Rachel or something like that?"

"Mr. Puckerman, why is it that you cannot follow a few simple instructions?!" Sue was barking into the microphone at Puck, who was just looking around, clueless as usual.

"Ms. Lopez, can you please pass out the stacks of paper I have here?" Santana got up quickly and grabbed the papers from Sue. There were multiple stacks of instructions that Sue liked to pass out to the coaches, the more confusing the better, so that only the smart would survive. Santana handed a few stacks to Sugar and a few to Quinn and they passed them around.

When Sugar passed by Santana she whispered "Oh, one more rumor floating around. The cross country team is going to be disbanded this year if they don't get enough people to make a full team." Sugar shrugged her shoulder at Santana as they both made a "like it's really a sport anyway" kind of face. They couldn't be bothered with that news.

Suddenly the auditorium doors burst open and in rushed a tall blonde in bright purple shorts and a white tank. Her blonde hair was up in a high ponytail and she had her phone in an armband around her bicep.

Sue came to a halt mid-sentence. "Great, so nice of you to finally join us. Sit down here." Sue pointed to the front seat next to Rachel. "New coaches up here."

As the blonde made her way to her seat, she was saying "I'm so sorry I'm late. I got lost and couldn't find my way around. I talked to the janitor, Mr. Figgins or something, but he gave me the wrong direc-"

"It's fine, Miss Pierce." Sue cut her off. "Let's hope your timely skills for this meeting don't reflect poorly on you getting your team of awkward individuals to the starting line on time."

The blonde ducked her head and remained quiet.

Sue looked back to the rest of the coaches. "Now as I was saying, you already know Santana Lopez. Beiste had to get a hip replacement so Santana will be taking the position of head volleyball coach. Sugar Motta will take her place as assistant coach. Let's see these ladies win the conference this year!" Sue clapped and her smile portrayed the pride in Santana; Sue had always taken a liking to her work ethic. The assembly of coaches cheered and clapped as well. When the auditorium finally died down, Sue continued. "And these are the new coaches for the season. Stand when I call your name. Rachel Berry – swimming coach". The short brunette stood awkwardly and waved at the assembly. "Artie Abrahams – that can't be right." Sue scratched her head. "Wrestling?"

Artie wheeled forward and waved his hand at Sue and the crowd, his smiled wide. "That's correct, Ms. Sylvester. I might look scrappy, but I'm a fighter."

Sue looked around the room and didn't stop until she found who she was looking for; some mousey red head, sitting off to the side of the stage. Sue gave her an icy stare for an uncomfortable about of time before looking back to Artie. "It seems my assistant hired you. Bug eyes, why did I trust that you could handle this one little thing?" She then mumbled into the microphone, "I should have given you cross country since we're not going to have a team very long anyway."

On the words 'cross country' the blonde stood up, smiled and waved to everyone, catching Sue's attention once again. "Oh yes, and last but not least, Brittany Pierce – cross country coach for as long as we have some people who want to run for sport and not for punishment." Sue slapped her knee and burst out laughing at her own joke while Brittany just continued to look around and see if anyone else was as confused as she was.

Santana was in the back of the auditorium still handing out papers when she locked eyes with the blonde. Brittany gave her a half smiled and a head nod before she turned around and sat back down.

Sugar nudged her arm. "Oh yeah. And they have a new cross country coach."

Santana followed Sugar back to their seats. This may be the first time Santana had ever given a single thought about cross country.

* * *

**So I don't know how long this is gonna go. I have a few cute ideas and of course, as always, brittana is end game! #brittanaordiebitches**


	2. Chapter 2

**Thank you all for the favorites, follows and reviews! You're all wonderful and had me smiling like a crazy person for days! :D**

* * *

**Chapter 2**

_Oh yeah. And they have a new cross country coach._

Santana quietly followed Sugar back to their seats. Luckily Santana knew the rest of Sue's introductory speeches for this meeting, because all she could focus on was the new blonde cross country coach and her head nod.

Santana vaguely heard Quinn mumble something to Sugar about the way Santana was acting, but San ignored them.

After Sue ended the meeting, Emma, Sue's athletic assistant raised the lights and all the coaches started to file out of the auditorium. Santana absent mindedly followed Sugar and Quinn out when she heard an abrupt, "Miss Lopez" from the stage.

Sugar stopped, but Santana wasn't paying attention and walked right into her. "Umph, sorry Sugs," Santana mumbled under her breath. Sugar and Quinn gave Santana a weird look and continued out of the auditorium with the rest of the coaches.

Santana turned around and put her hands behind her back, "Yeah, what's up?" She tried to look cool after walking into Sugar, especially after noticing that the hot blonde was standing beside Sue.

"Miss Lopez, would you be so kind as to show Miss Pierce to her office? She doesn't know the campus yet." Brittany smiled at Santana over Sue's shoulder and Santana just about melted.

Sue turned to Brittany. "As cross country coach, you get an office. Your team doesn't get a locker room, because you only have one home meet that barely counts for anything, but you're right across from the volleyball locker room and the swimming one is right around the corner, so your team is allowed to use either of them if needed, although I can't imagine what a few nerdy runners will need with an actual sports locker room…" She ended her rant. "Anyway, thanks Santana." Sue smiled at her. "Now I'm off to drink some protein shakes, watch Grease, and make some bad decisions. Have a good night ladies." Sue turned, barked some orders at Emma and was off.

Santana turned to Brittany.

_Gosh, she was even prettier up close._

"Hi, I'm Santana. Welcome to the coaching staff." She smiled at Brittany and held up her hand in a nerdy wave.

She was all kinds of off her game in front of this blonde.

She threw her hand down, silently scolded herself for being so lame, and turned around so she wouldn't fall or walk into anyone. She led Brittany out of the auditorium and was met by Sugar and Quinn waiting for her.

"Hey guys, meet Brittany, she's the new cross country coach." Quinn and Sugar both smiled knowingly.

"Welcome aboard, it's good to have another female coach around here." Quinn smirked at her.

"Yeah, too many hunks, I mean men, around here sucks." Sugar giggled and looked at Quinn.

Santana rolled her eyes at the two of them and hoped Brittany didn't pick up on their teasing.

"Ok guys, I have to show Brittany to her office, so I'll meet you tomorrow on campus and we can have dinner before our practices."

Quinn looked at Santana over her shoulder. "Sounds good. Have fun with cross country, Snixx." She smirked and walked away with Sugar.

Sugar smiled and waved at San, "See you for practice manana, head coach!"

Santana led Brittany the opposite way.

"Your friends seem nice," Brittany chimed in and matched Santana's pace, walking side by side with her.

"Yeah, they are pretty great. I've known them both since college." Santana couldn't explain why she felt nervous in front of Brittany. "Anyway, come on. Your office is through here." Brittany followed as Santana pointed out the gym and then as they got closer to the office, the swimming and volleyball locker rooms. Brittany stopped in front of the trophy case.

"Oooh looks like volleyball had a lot of plaques, trophies and medals in here." Her eyes roamed over the case. Volleyball was one of the best sports at this college since before Santana went here.

"Yeah, they have a really good volleyball program here." Santana rolled her eyes at herself. Wow, could she have sounded anymore lame?

Brittany's eyes continued to look around. "I'm not seeing anything related to running though. What's the deal with the cross country team here anyway?"

"I should ask you the same thing. What is the deal with running for sport? I make my girls run when they miss a serve or get aced. I don't get the idea of running for the sake of running."

Brittany looked up at the ceiling, but her eyes seemed distant. "Yeah, not everyone gets it. There's just something about pushing your body to the limit, knowing you're the only person that's holding you back. It's such a mental game. Running just lets out something that I haven't been able to find in any other sport…"

Santana couldn't help but think she wanted to push Brittany's body to some limits herself, but she couldn't disagree more, "Nope, I don't get it at all. I run, but I try to avoid it as much as I possibly can and prefer anything else to it."

Brittany just shrugged, "Suit yourself; thanks for showing me to my office." She turned and put the key in the door and just like that, she was gone, leaving Santana feeling weirdly alone in the hallway.

* * *

The next night at dinner the girls couldn't help but give Santana a hard time.

"You were practically drooling over her, San!" Sugar laughed.

"Yeah, did you show Brittany her "_office_"?" Quinn winked and put her hands up in air quotes.

"Maybe you guys did a few _miles_ on the track?" Sugar insinuated, wiggling her eyebrows at Santana.

Santana blushed and Quinn and Sugar laughed at her red face.

"Shut up, nothing happened!" Santana was used to their teasing and usually let it slide, but seeing how this was probably going to continue all season, she wasn't feeling it today.

"You know what; I don't have to listen to this." Santana got up from the table, feigning sensitivity. "And I'm making the girls do an extra circuit tonight and they can thank you for that, Sugs!" San walked away from the table to put her dishes away but not before she heard Quinn crack another joke at Sugar and they both busted up laughing.

* * *

It had been 5 long days since Santana had seen Brittany. Santana knew that cross country usually practiced around 4PM and Santana had the late hours of the gym this week from 6-8PM, so she had no reason to be in her office early. However, the past few days she had been coming in a little early hoping to run into Brittany; not too early as to look desperate, but she hadn't caught a glimpse of her yet.

By Friday, she couldn't take it anymore. She got to her office before 4:00 and was looking through her play book when she heard voices in the hallway.

"Speed work out today!" She heard Brittany's chipper voice.

Santana's heart skipped a beat.

A collective groan sounded.

_At least she had more than one person on the team. _Santana was happy about that.

"Coach, no, please anything but that! I can't walk from those hill repeats from yesterday."

"Now, now, Captain Marley. We will not get beat in the final stretch to the finish line. Speed work will help with that, especially when your muscles are already tired. Head out to the track and jog a mile warm up. I'll meet you out there in 5."

Santana waited a good 15 minutes before she left her office; she didn't want to look like a stalker.

She made her way out to the track and hid behind the bleachers. She saw Brittany standing with a stopwatch in her hand, near the 200 meter mark, looking adorable.

"Marley, stop turning around! It doesn't matter who's behind you, just keep looking forward! Turning around slows you down and wastes valuable time!" Brittany was scolding the girl who was in the lead. There were 3 other girls on the track; 2 not far behind Marley. The final girl was very, very far behind and she was walking.

"Coach, I don't think I can make it. Do you think I can hold a stopwatch and yell with you?"

"Unique, stop walking! This is your first lap!"

"I can't do this, Coach… Marley is my best friend and roommate and I'll be your biggest cross country fan, but there is no way I can run in a race." The girl had one hand on her chest and was fanning herself with the other.

"Hey VB, I see you over there. Come on down here." Brittany yelled and waved at Santana scrunched under the bleachers.

Santana could have kicked herself for getting caught spying on Brittany's practice. She jogged over to where Brittany was standing. "Hey, just checking in. How's everything going?"

"Girls, take a quick water break, don't drink too much. Then back on the line." Brittany instructed her team before turning to Santana.

"You know, I have 4 girls, counting Unique who was not made to ever run in her lifetime, and I need 5 to make a team and we have our first meet a week from tomorrow. But I'm not stressed, it's fine." Brittany rubbed her forehead and took a breath, putting her hands on her hips and smiling at Santana. "How are you?"

"Good, the team looks ready for the season. I'm making the final cuts tonight and then I'll have my team."

"Must be nice to have enough girls that you have the option to make cuts." Brittany responded with mock jealousy.

"Hey, I might actually have an idea." She bit her bottom lip and looked at Brittany. "The few girls that I cut, I'll send them your way. They're not exactly cut out for playing volleyball. Maybe you'll have better luck with them."

"Yeah, maybe you can casually mention that we need a few more runners." Brittany smiled and walked over to her bag. "Do me a favor, give them this for me?" She handed Santana a packet of papers. "If they do want to join the team, it's just a few forms and the meet schedule."

Santana took the papers from Brittany, "Sure will."

"Any my phone number and email are on there too." Brittany smiled at Santana and San swore Brittany looked like she wanted to say more.

All Santana heard was phone number and while she didn't want to be a creep, she was most definitely going to be saving that in her phone.

"Awesome, thanks!" She smiled at Santana, but there was a devious glint in her eye. "Care to run a few laps with us or can volleyball not hang on the track?"

Santana was never one to turn down a challenge. She put her hand to her chest, "Oh, I would be honored."

"Unique, it's your lucky day! Take the stop watch. We're doing an 800, that's 2 laps. I want you to yell out our 400 split as we pass by you."

The 3 girls were already on the inside of the track. Santana stood next to Marley and Brittany took her place on the most outer part of the track next to Santana.

"On my count. Ready. Set. GO." Unique yelled and they all took off.

Marley and the others were quickly left behind, as Brittany took the lead and Santana ducked in behind her. Santana stayed up with Brittany as they finished their first lap and passed by Unique.

"1:12, 1:13, 1:14," she yelled as they flew past her.

"Not bad, volleyball, "Britt puffed over her shoulder.

Santana felt a small surge of adrenaline rush through her body and wasn't sure it was just from the endorphins she was releasing on this little jaunt around the track.

They rounded the first turn of the track and got to the straightaway, where Britt picked up the pace and left Santana in the dust. Santana tried to stay with her, but Britt's long strides carried her farther and farther away. Brittany looked like she was gliding, never mind sprinting, around the track. She took the final turn and last straightaway easily, crossing by Unique at 2:17.

"Damnnnn, coach! Girl can run!" Unique gave Brittany a high five, clearly impressed.

Brittany turned and yelled down the track, "Sprint it in, VB." Santana pumped her arms harder; her heartbeat elevated for more than one reason and crossed the line in a 2:29. That might have been the fastest half mile she's ever run in her life.

Marley and the other girls crossed the line about 10 seconds behind Santana and Brittany high fived them all.

"Nice work, ladies! Jog to the other side of the track and we'll go from there. This time I set the pace and you have to stay with me." She smiled wide at them and turned to San. "Thanks for joining us, volleyball, hope you'll do it again soon." She smiled at San and took off down the track to meet up with her team.

Santana smiled on her way back to her office, laughing at this nickname she just somehow acquired.

* * *

Santana got back to her office, sweat covering her forehead from her quick run around the track. Her mind was elsewhere and her legs were tight from running without properly stretching first. She almost walked right into Sue.

"Ahhh, Miss Lopez, just the person I was looking for." She smiled at her. "So nice to see you take the initiative to work out before your practices. I always admired your work ethic."

Santana smiled and blushed, not at the compliment, but at the fact that she just got to work out with Brittany and hoped there would be more days where she could do that.

"Sure, Sue, what's going on?"

"Well, I've decided to do things a little differently this season. Something to stir up a little Lion team spirit." Santana gave Sue a confused look and shook her head, having no idea what Sue was talking about.

"Ok, you caught me. It was Emma's idea and the rest of the athletic department ate it right up, so I had to agree to it."

Santana waited for Sue to continue. "We're doing this thing called 'Pride Rocks', get it? Because our mascot is a lion? Emma thought that was just so cute. God, I hate her bug eyes and her germ free face and her stupid ideas! Anyway, the idea is that every sports team has another team that goes to watch some of their games or matches and they support each other and help stir up some school spirit."

Santana didn't think it was an all-around bad idea. However, it wasn't something she often thought about, as her team was so good that most of the school came to watch her matches and the stands were full and school spirit was never an issue for volleyball. It probably also helped that Quinn brought her team to a lot of the matches, who then brought their friends and roommates. But Santana lived for those matches when the gym was full and the roar of the crowd fueled her fire for coaching and her desire to win.

"Well, I did you a favor, Lopez. I paired you with cross country. They only have one home meet, so you only have to attend that one event. On the other hand, those scrawny runners will have to come to your volleyball matches, but maybe if they see what a real team is like, they'll have the drive to do something more with their lives than run through the woods and around a big circle like a hamster on a wheel!"

Santana almost couldn't hear Sue because her heart was beating so loud. Brittany was going to get to see her coach. She was giddy and nervous at that thought.

"Work those ladies hard, Lopez. I'm pumped for next week's first home game." Sue slapped Santana on the arm and woke her out of her momentary daze.

Santana could only imagine those clear blue eyes staring at her from the stands.

"Sure, Sue. I can't wait for it either."


	3. Chapter 3

**Sorry for the mini hiatus. Grad school is kicking my ass this semester! But I'm always thinking of (and even occasionally dreaming about) these two lovely coaches :D**

* * *

**Chapter 3**

Santana was in that state of nervous / excited by the night of her first volleyball match. She knew her team was more than ready to take on the Crusaders; they were a team that the Lions easily beat last season and all their best girls had graduated. Santana kept telling herself she was nervous because it was her first home match as head coach and she wanted to impress everyone.

Really, there was only one person she was worried about impressing.

Santana was sitting in her office when she heard a knock on the door. She looked up as a blonde head popped inside, "Hope I'm not bothering you. Just wanted to say good luck." Brittany smiled and gave Santana a double thumbs up. "I'll be there with the team, since 'Pride Rocks' and all that…" She was about to close the door, "Oh and we made t-shirts too. Cross country really knows how to rock arts and crafts." She winked and shut the door.

Santana's stomach fluttered and she had to go do something before she went crazy.

* * *

Santana went down to the physical trainer to make sure anyone on her team who needed their ankles taped or their hamstrings stretched were down there before the game. Sure enough, her captain had it under control.

"Hey San, ready for another awesome season?" The physical trainer, Matt, was stretching out her libero and star player, Mercedes Jones.

"Yes I am!" She high fived him. "See you in the gym, Matt. Mercedes, I want you to round up the team in the locker room at 5:30. Warm ups start at 6. Let's get fired up!"

"Coach, it's our first match of the season. I'd say _fired up_ is an understatement!" Mercedes was buzzing with excitement and it was contagious.

Santana left the training room smiling from ear to ear.

* * *

Santana made her way to the locker room and waited for the girls to get changed before giving her pre-game speech.

"Ladies, we've worked hard for tonight. Let's show everyone we're not here to come in second place this year. This is our season." The girls whooped and cheered. "Mercedes, you want to say something?"

As the team captain, she led the pre-game stuff. "Let's get this, Lions. I want communication and no balls drop tonight. Ain't nobody got time for that and I will call your shit out and have Coach Lopez sit your ass. We will own those Crusaders! Lions on 3. 1, 2, 3, LIONS!"

* * *

The gym was pretty empty when Santana made her way in there. It was around 6 and her team had an hour to warm up before the match. The student workers for the athletics department were hanging up posters and unfolding chairs in the stands.

Little by little, people came filtering in. Sue made her way over to Santana. "How's it going, coach?"

"Everything is great, Sue. The girls are ready. They're excited. Should be a good match."

"I know I'm more excited to see this match than I was to see Olivia Newton John in the 'Let's Get Physical' video. All that spandex..." Sue trailed off and made her way across the gym to sit in her usual seat near the main box.

Santana kept looking toward the door. She knew who she was waiting for. She kept trying to keep her attention on other people moving around the gym, but it didn't calm her nerves.

Not before long, Quinn came through the door with Rachel, Brittany and some guy hanging on Brittany's arm. There were too many people coming into the gym, so Santana couldn't see him clearly, but her heart dropped.

_Had she been reading the signs wrong? Did Brittany have a boyfriend? _

Quinn pointed out her usual spot in the stands and Britt and Rachel went up there, Britt finding her cross country team nearby, while Quinn made her way over. Santana tried to remain focused on Quinn and not pay any attention to what was happening over her shoulder on the bleachers.

"Good luck, San." She fist bumped her and San nodded toward the stands.

"What's that dwarf doing here?" Santana motioned to Rachel sitting in the stands and she side eyed Quinn, who just smiled.

"She's my 'Pride Rocks' team. I'm just trying to be nice and get to know her. She's not all that bad." Quinn shoved San in the shoulder and smiled. San recognized that smile from Quinn. It was dangerous.

"Sure, Q. Just make sure she stops talking during the game. I don't need her distracting my girls."

"Yeah, you got it, San." Quinn touched her arm and went back to the bleachers. When Santana looked up Brittany was smiling at her and gave her a small wave. There was no boy next to her now. Santana waved back.

Someone next to Santana drew her attention away from Brittany. It was Kurt, the athletic announcer. Kurt had aslo graduated with Santana, Sugar and Quinn. They didn't always see eye to eye. Santana thought he was way too sensitive to be the sports teams' announcer, but Santana saw Kurt every home game she played and coached and now considered him a friend. "Good luck, Lopez. Kill those Crusaders!" He made a little cheerleading motion by putting his hand and leg in the air and went to sit up at the microphone.

As soon as he walked passed Sue, she got up. "Porcelain, wait. I'm coming with you to sit in the box." Sue followed him up the bleachers.

"No, Sue. Last time you almost got me in trouble because of your insults. You can't be near the microphone…" Santana shook her head and laughed at the two of them fighting. Her attention immediately focused on the gym door. Her team, led by Sugar, came marching through the double doors. Santana had her game face on. During a volleyball match, there was nothing that could distract her. Not even crystal blue eyes intently staring at her from across the gym.

* * *

The music blasted over the loud speakers and the girls came out to start their pre-game warm ups. Santana and Sugar led them through their drills and then kept an eye on the other team.

"Wow, they're awful this year", Sugar whispered to Santana while they were watching the Crusaders warm up.

Santana nodded, "They lost their setter and both of their middles. But they have a new freshman player; check out number 1."

As soon as Santana said it, number 1 was set a ball and spiked it down to her teammates on the other side of the net. All the defensive players missed it by a long shot.

"Still, it's gonna be a bloodbath!" Sugar smiled, excitedly at Santana and turned her attention back to her team. "Jill, move your feet. No balls drop in front of you!"

* * *

Ironically, Rachel and Kurt sang the national anthem together. Santana rolled her eyes at Quinn, who just shrugged. That explained how Quinn got Rachel to come to the game. It was hard to not look at Brittany in the stands, especially when she always seemed to have her eyes on Santana, but San tried to remain undistracted as Rachel ended the Star Spangled Banner with a ridiculously long, high note. Even Kurt stopped and stared at her. The crowd applauded and they both bowed dramatically. Rachel went back to her seat.

Kurt read out the names from the roster of the opposing team with his usual excitement. But when he got to the Lion's starting lineup, his excitement rose tenfold. "Senior, number 29, your 5'10" setter, Clara Donahue." The crowd applauded. "And last, but absolutely not least, number 17, junior, your captain and starting libero, Mercedess Jonessss." The crowd went wild and got to their feet to cheer on Mercedes. She went all conference last year and would most definitely do the same this year. She also held the conference record for most digs in a match; no one even came close to beating it last year.

The match started with Mercedes serving. Mercedes' first serve was so wicked, sailing in the air across the net, that she hit some Crusader right in the face. The lions did their "ace" cheer and Mercedes got the ball back. It was 7-0 before the Crusaders called a time out. Mercedes served a few more times before the Crusaders spiked a ball down at the Lions and they lost a point.

"Ashley, that's your ball. Call it and move Brianna out of the way" Santana coached from the sidelines. It was a little more nerve wrecking being the head coach and calling all the plays as opposed to being the assistant coach, but Beiste had taught her well and Santana felt confident. Plus, Sugar was a super helpful assistant coach, pacing the sidelines and instructing the girls.

When it was their turn to serve again, Sugar signaled to the next player, Abby, what position she wanted her to aim at. Abby hit her target and the girl hit the ball at a weird angel, making it shank to her left and fly off the court.

The crowd went crazy. "Same place", San yelled to Abby.

The girl on the other side of the net reset herself and looked determined. Her teammates all yelled to her to be ready in case it came to her again. Abby served it to the same place, making the girl flail around, the ball veering off to her right. The Lions stand went wild. Abby continued with a few more serves before the Crusaders again called a time out.

"You look great, just keep it up!" Santana high fived the girls.

"Yeah, Abby solid serving out there!" Sugar patted her on the back. The girls took a swig of water and got back on the court.

A few more serves went back and forth, but it wasn't a very exciting game. The Lions killed the Crusaders, ending with a triumphant 25-13. The teams switched sides and grabbed their water bottles.

The Crusaders seemed pretty defeated. Their head coach could be heard screaming at them from their huddle. The assistant coach looked sympathetically at the girls, but didn't say anything, probably for fear of turning their coach's wrath on him.

The girls took a water break and switched sides for the next match.

"Ladies, that was an awesome first set! Let's do that again. Work on your passes and run some of the new plays. They're not a very strong team, so don't be afraid to experiment and see what works. Hands in."

The second and third games went pretty much the same as the first and the Lions came out victorious, with scores of 25-9 and 25-11, ending the Crusaders in three games. That was even with Santana playing some of her second lineup.

Everyone in the stands went wild after the game ended. Santana and Sugar hugged, "Good game, coach." They said to each other simultaneously, which only made them laugh and hug again as they got in line to shake hands with the other team.

The Crusader coach met Santana at the end of the line. "Good game, coach. I see your team is ready to take the conference this year."

"Thank you, sir. I hated to lose it last year and I'm definitely going for number one." She shook his hand firm.

"You're team looks great! I wish you the best of luck; see you later in the season."

"Thank you, you too."

Santana turned back to her team where they all gathered around and hugged her and each other, celebrating their victory.

"I'm proud of you girls, great match. That's what your hard work will do. Enjoy your night and see you back here for practice tomorrow. Hands in. Mercedes."

"LIONS ON 3. 1, 2, 3. LIONS".

Even some people from the crowd joined in on that one.

* * *

The fans started to pour out of the gym, some people coming over to congratulate the team, Sugar and Santana. She shook more hands than she could keep track of.

Sue made sure to make her way over. "I'm proud of you, Lopez." She smiled at her. Suddenly Santana was lifted from behind as someone yelled, "But I'm more proud of you."

Santana was placed back on the ground and spun around. "Coach Beiste, you were here?!" Santana hugged her dear friend and previous coach. "Why didn't you come over and sit on the bench?"

"I didn't want you to see me until after the game. You didn't need any added pressure." She smiled at Santana. "The team looks awesome. I know you'll do it this year." She tapped Santana's chin affectionately and turned to the team, hugging the ones she knew from last year and being introduced to the new ones.

Quinn made her way over and slapped Santana on the arm. "You probably made each one of those Crusader girls cry tonight, Snix, I hope you're happy." She hugged her "Congrats!" and did the same to Sugar.

Rachel was next in line to talk to Santana. "I understand very little about the game of volleyball, but having Quinn here to explain some things to me was helpful. Being that I've been asked to sing the national anthem at all your home games, I'll be seeing you around at a few more matches. Good job." She awkwardly patted Santana's shoulder and followed Quinn, who was talking with Sugar.

That left Brittany to come over to Santana. "Great game, coach." Brittany launched herself at Santana, hugging her tightly and laughing, almost knocking Santana off balance. Santana didn't know they were on a hugging level yet, but she was happy to know that they were.

"I don't know that much about volleyball, but I know more than Rachel and her constant yapping made me pay super close attention. I'll be a pro in no time." She winked at Santana, who blushed, but tried to hide it behind her hand.

"And what do you think about our shirts?" The front said 'Pride Rocks' with a lion holding a volleyball and wearing sneakers. She turned around dramatically so Santana could see the back of her shirt. It had a volleyball in the middle and a shoe with wings and the letters VB and XC on it. The shirts were black and the paint was the school colors of red, white and some gray.

Santana was actually impressed. "Wow, cross country can actually do arts and crafts."

"Don't mock my team. I enjoy being artsy. If you want, we can get some shirts made for your girls too." Brittany motioned her head forward and Santana turned around. It looked like Unique was introducing herself and the cross country team to Mercedes and the volleyball team.

"Oh and thanks for sending some girls my way." Brittany brought Santana's attention back to her. "Of the five you cut, three of them came to me and joined the team. That gives me six girls! And I was able to cut Unique. She agreed to help me time the girls and keep track of things as a student worker, but I told her she won't be running ever again. We're both happier with this arrangement."

"That's great. I'm happy it worked out for you."

Kurt came down from the stands and over to Santana and Brittany. "It's nice to see you two have met." He made a hand motion between Brittany and Santana. Santana shook her head at him, confused. She went to college with Kurt; as funny as it was, he had always been involved with the athletic department. Kurt had been announcing at volleyball matches and field hockey games for as long as she could remember. But Santana was confused as to how Kurt and Brittany knew each other.

Santana turned the comment back at him. "So how do you two know each other?" Santana laughed and motioned to them.

Brittany laughed and grabbed Kurt's arm. Kurt looked serious. "Well, Santana, Brittany and I go to the same yoga studio. And we usually go for coffee and grocery shop together…"

"Stop teasing her, Kurt." Brittany cut him off and looked back to Santana, "We're roommates! And when Kurt told me Sue was going to cut the cross country team, I wanted to help. I have him to thank for getting me this job." She smiled at Kurt. Rachel was finally done talking to Sugar, so Brittany hopped over to congratulate her.

Santana was thinking to herself how she had to give Kurt the biggest 'thank you' one day for getting Brittany this coaching job here. She was slightly daydreaming and didn't even notice Kurt moving closer to her.

He made sure Britt wasn't paying attention before whispering to Santana, "She seems to have taken quite a liking to you, San." Kurt rolled his eyes, mocking Santana's stunned look. "Don't screw it up." Kurt left Santana's side, grabbed Brittany's arm and led her toward the door. Britt turned around and waved 'bye' to Santana before leaving the gym.

Santana never imagined she'd be envious of Kurt, but in that moment she couldn't help but think that he had to be the luckiest gay man alive.


End file.
